String Theory, Quantum Observers, and Magic

[Okay, I've re-written and expanded on my Feb. 26 post, tying it in with magic and spirits. If it seems familiar, just keep reading. I still need to expand upon it a bit more, but I have the essense of it down, and this will be going on the Clan of the Firery Moon site in the Technomage pages]

One of the concepts in String Theory is that the universe is made up of tiny filaments with unique vibrations. The vibration of each string determines what subatomic (or maybe sub-subatomic) particle the string represents. In essense, a string (or more likely a set of strings, they're REALLY tiny) could be vibrating in one way, causing it to "be" an electron; and the very same string(s) could have a different vibration, with the effect that it's a neutrino.

So, it's not the strings that are important, it's the vibration. (It's not the singer, it's the song.) Strings are the medium which carries the universe. The universe itself is the tune that is reverberating on the strings, from the one Big Note that was plucked on them at the beginning of time.

Then there is the conundrum of quantum physics and observation of effects...

There is a premise in quantum mechanics that, in order for an event to "exist", it must be observed (there's more to it than that, but that's good enough for now). So, what about the Big Bang? Who or what observed that event?

My theory is that the strings with which the universe is filled are quantum bits of consciousness. Individually, a quantum observer (QO, for short) observes/witnesses the events around it (it experiences the vibration it carries), but has no means to record the memory of those events within itself. It can only communicate its experience by allowing the resonance of its own vibration to affect the QOs around it. This resonant vibration would combine with those given off by neighboring QOs, possibly forming a "pattern of experience" within certain groups of strings.

These patterns may or may not have been very complex (it's the dawn of the universe, talking about the history of thought...). As the more sophisticated lifeforms evolved (those with nervous systems), some patterns of experience attached themselves to the sensory and cognitive apparati of those lifeforms, basically becoming a part of them. The part that grants self-awareness. What the patterns get in return is the ability to become more defined, complex and sophisticated.

Now, not all patterns attached to lifeforms, most did not. Those that didn't continue to flit around the universe. Occasionally, however, an unattached pattern will pass through the brain (or otherwise interact with the "resident" pattern of experience) of a lifeform that is telling a story (or saying a prayer, etc.) and the unattached pattern may associate itself with the subject of the story/prayer/whatever. As it touches other minds, encountering more thoughts and stories associated with its name will strengthen it sense of identity. The more people talk about a being, be it a hero, faerie, djinn, angel, spirit, god, etc., the more people believe, the more defined (i.e. stronger) it gets. Its presence can be felt more easily, and it can possibly affect the physical world more easily.

How do they affect the physical world? The spirit alters the pattern of resonance that comprises it, perhaps by touching the thoughts of lifeforms ("attached" patterns of experience) and communicating their desire, or more drastically by directly changing vibrations in matter and energy within the environment to create effects, which can be very subtle or not. So you've got spirits affecting the physical world by altering the pattern of resonance of the vibrations that make up matter and energy in the universe. In other words, changing the world through force of will.

Magic.

Honesty and the People You Love

It has been a hard couple of days. The bills have been piling up, and we currently have under 100 dollars to our names that isn't committed to some bill or another. Our minivan died AGAIN, after just having a new engine put in and driving it once. The air conditioner died Monday and it cost 500 dollars to fix today (Thank you, Grandma Cheri). We did a budget, and found that after all the monthly bills are paid, we have about a hundred bucks a month for, oh, stuff like FOOD.

Frustrating.

Fire-Eyes has been a wreck. Today as I was getting ready for work, she came into the bedroom and started crying. I wish I could say it was a rare occurrance, but not this month. I tried to comfort her, feeling ineffective and worried that I couldn't "make it better" immediately. I love her so much, I wish I could just snap my fingers and fix the world for her.

Then she said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked.

"Well..." she paused. "It just seems like I came into your life and everything is screwing up!" And she was crying again.

This set alarms off in my head: It felt like she was saying she thought I would be better off without her! It was like a cold hand grabbed my heart.

"Baby," I started, "you're the best thing that ever happened to me--" She laughed suddenly in her tears, the hard "yeah, right" laugh you sometimes hear. You know the one.

I tried again. "Hon, what makes you think I HAD a life before you? I love you. You are the most important thing in my life!" I couldn't take it any more. I started crying even harder than she was. I felt like I was about to lose her.

I know that we are going through some difficulty, but as long as Fire-Eyes is by my side, we can face whatever life throws at us. I'll make it better. I already have a plan that will get more money in the house, so we won't have to get rid of the pets and the internet (yes, things are *that* tight). Besides, "A money miracle happens to me today". A little mantra/magic that I'm using. No harm in that, right?

Happy Mother's Day

I sit here typing with one hand while keeping my son from squirming over to bang the keyboard with the other. Just finished watching A Knight's Tale on DVD, including the cut scenes. I yielded control of the remote to Fire-Eyes today, it being Mother's Day and all. :)

Yesterday, we cleaned out the dining room. Just moved the whole mess out to the carport and sorted through it all. The dining room looks great. The carport looks like a garage sale, but the dining room looks great. :) Actually, we got through most of the stuff we pulled out, it just the massive amount that's left is still daunting.

Gah. Computer problems, gotta reboot. I'll try to post more later today.

String Theory and Such

A couple thoughts: I was watching The Screen Savers the other night, and they had a physicist talking about string theory and his new book. Leo Laporte mentioned that they (the physicists) were searching for "echoes of the Big Bang". You want to see echoes of the Big Bang? Look out the window. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is an echo of the Big Bang.

One of the concepts in String Theory is that the universe is made up of "strings," tiny filaments with unique vibrations. The vibration of each string determines what subatomic (or maybe sub-subatomic) particle the string represents. In essense, a string (or more likely a set of strings, they're REALLY tiny) could be vibrating in one way, causing it to "be" an electron; and the very same string(s) could have a different vibration, with the effect that it's a boson.

So, it's not the strings that are important, it's the vibration. (It's not the singer, it's the song.) Strings are merely the medium that carries the universe. The universe itself is the tune that is reverberating on the strings, from the one Big Note that was plucked on them at the beginning of time.

What if it's a bounce?

Okay, sorry. That was a cryptic question. The previous paragraph reminded me of another theory I've been working under, concerning the structure of the universe on a "macro" scale. It's from something I read in "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking. The idea is that the mass behind the event horizon of a black hole doesn't have to be concentrated at the singularity to have enough gravitational distortion to create said event horizon. It was also mentioned that the universe in which we live has sufficient average mass per volume to be within a black hole. That put the idea in my head: Take a black hole and all the mass it collects from its formation to the end of time, take those four dimensions and turn them inside out, placing the "shell" of the event horizon at the beginning of the timeline, and all the mass falls "out" into the expanding universe. The "underside" of the event horizon is basically the Big Bang of another universe.

So. How do I reconcile the string theory I started this post off with, with the "universes are black holes in other universes" theory? Okay, maybe the mass falling in to a black hole builds up a lot of energy and maybe the stress of turning at right angles to the old home universe (causing all the strings that ever intersect with the event horizon to appear at one instant and at one point) causes enough of a primal vibration to make a unified field and a Big ass Bang! (Maybe?)

These are the things that go through my head on a daily basis.

What has this to do with magic and paganism? That's coming soon.

A Beautiful, If Stubborn, Lady

Sigh. I took Fire-Eyes to a walk-in clinic today (we finally got insurance in December, but getting a doctor to see her on short notice is another matter). She has been feeling bad for about two months, ever since Rhiannon was taken away from us. Turns out the stress she's been under combined with not taking care of her allergies caused some fluid to build up in her lungs. She has a case of walking pneumonia. This is, in some ways, a good thing. Now that we have proof that she's sick, she has to start taking it easy. I can legitimately yell at her to sit down and rest, and she might even listen to me!!! Yeah, she's that stubborn.

I love my wife. She is Chieftain of Clan of the Firery Moon, the mother of my child, the one who keeps our house from falling apart, a first responder, a trained barista, herbalist, gardener, landscaper, caterer, and business manager, my loving confidant, my perfect lover. And she worries that she doesn't do enough. I swear, I do try to help, but sometimes I get exhausted just watching her go.

Money Woes

Well, taking a day off work to help take care of my son while Fire-Eyes is sick. I just called the people handling my mortgage, rather the automatic bi-weekly payment on said mortgage. They said there was a problem with my bank and that they hadn't pulled any of the coming month's payment yet. We worked out the snafu and I told them I would get with my bank to make sure it didn't happen again. Then they tell me they'll have to pull the full month's payment this Friday, then half of the following month's next Friday. A mortgage payment takes almost a full week's pay, so things may be a little slim for the coming weeks.

Then there was the thing with the people installing my DirecTV. We ordered a two-room setup with TiVo on one receiver. A week later, UPS delivered two boxes to our door. In one box was everything we ordered (dish, 2 receivers, other miscellany to complete the order), in the other was everything we ordered AGAIN. We sent the second box back, but the nitwits that sent it say we have to pay a penalty for not activating our DirecTV service. I faxed them a DTV bill, and they still charged my credit card over $600. Take note: Orbitsat.com sucks. If you want to get a satellite system the future, avoid them at ALL costs!

So, now I'm off to the bank to make a car payment, straighten out the thing with the mortgage, and cancel a charge on my VISA. What a day.

Well, I'm about to start GMing a D&D game (oh, I role-play, too, by the way) this evening. The game will be changing into a more political one, using rules from Chris Aylott's Dynasties And Demagogues. I am so unprepared it's not funny. Well, okay. Maybe a little.

I just spent several hours sussing out why the capital city the heroes are avoiding wants the magical texts they recently recovered. And more recently destroyed.

Yet another thing I should detail in depth, but will have to wait. I'm feeding Sabastion with one hand while typing this with the other. He'll be a year old at the end of next month. :)

I am Czarzhan. A member of the Clan of the Firery Moon (yes, that's how "Firery" is supposed to be spelt in the name). The Clan was dedicated two years and a couple months ago as a way for individual pagan practitioners to be able to get together, learn from each other, party, and be able to attend festivals with backup.

Its purpose has grown since it began, but it hasn't changed that much. Lately, we've been trying to make plans for when the group grows beyond a couple handfuls of members. The basic idea if like an independent-study college with a social setup based on celtic society.

I'll go into more detail about that later, but one of the things that I need to develop is a functional philosophy for being a Technomage. One of the things I'll be putting into this blog is my idea of what "scientific mysticism" might be.

Another aspect of Entries will be tidbits of my life, as a husband, father, computer nerd, and contract worker in the United States Space Industry.

I hope you enjoy my blog. I also hope I can stick to it for a reasonable length of time.

Czarzhan